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The term planetary embryo (or just embryo for short) naturally refers to objects that will eventually become planets. The term may be used for a "lump" of dust within a protoplanetary disk, and for small objects that have the potential to grow further. While there is the implication that such an object might grow to be a planet, theories suggest objects sometimes collide and merge into a larger embryo, i.e., the eventual planet may incorporate more than one such embryo.
The term is used in different ways when describing planet-formation theories, i.e., within some particular theory, the term may be for some specific stage of a planet's development. Certain asteroids having been described as embryos that didn't develop into planets, and even Mars being classified as an undeveloped embryo for an Earth-like planet.